Gingerbread Houses. Again!

The last two years the girls and I made gingerbread houses as a craft. I didn't expect it to be any easier than it was last year. I was right. I started off by making the houses while the older girl, Aubrey, was at school. That was so it could set. Brynna, the youngest, really wanted to help but there wasn't much for her to do. She tried though. That's what counts. Well she tried to eat the graham crackers. Which is basically the same thing. 

I only used graham crackers and frosting. A lot of people mix things in their frosting to make it stay but I've never had to. It hardens if you let them set for a few hours. Considering the girls didn't break theirs, it works just fine. If there isn't enough time for that, that's a whole different story.

We made three houses. One we all helped with and then the girls got to make their own. I cheated and bought a kit for the decorating. It was cheaper and they had light shaped hard candies.

These are the girls' houses that they made themselves.

The hardest part about making these houses are trying to get the kids to stop eating the candy and licking the frosting. They weren't happy when I threw everything away. The candy was everywhere! I don't think this is something I'm going to be doing again for a long time.

It took about an hour and the girls sat through the whole thing but they seemed to enjoy it. 

Valentine's Day Treats

It's been a while since I last been on here. I've been writing and I've been keeping a separate blog for that. I don't update very often, I'll tell you that. So, I decided that I'm going to try to get back into blogging again since some of the things I have planned for the year involves being creative. And I want to start crafting with the girls more again. I've been slacking...a lot.

Wednesday, the girls and I made out Valentine's Day craft but I was on a budget so it was something simple, cheap, and somewhat easy. I made Rice Krispies Treats that we molded into hearts ourselves. We didn't have a cookie cutter and I love molding things with my hands. The girls didn't mind getting messy.

We took Wilton Candy Melts and coated the Rice Krispies Treats. It was different for every child. I also had to keep them from eating everything. It was hard. The oldest one really doesn't like to listen when I tell her not to eat something.

Here are a few of them. We gave some my friend who works just a few door down from my own work place and they were very excited to have them. It was actually rather cute how excited the oldest boy was.

Spending Time Outside

On Tuesday, the other nannies and I made this giant outdoor waterbed for the kids. They had a blast on this thing. It was also nice to have other adults to talk to while working. The kids also enjoy having other children to be around. We have Pinterest and the clever parent who blogged about this to thank for it.

The girls and I had a picnic outside last week too. On Tuesday, we had it out in the backyard where this little guy caused the girls to run back in the house. It was rather funny...even if the girls spilled their drinks all over the blankets to get in the house. I was left to clean everything up but it was worth it. 

Wednesday turned out to be a rainy day. We played outside whenever the weather allowed it and I ended up staying late so the mom and dad could go out for an impromptu date night. We had a picnic in the garage so we wouldn't get rained on but it was a blast. In the end, the rain cleared up and we played outside with the neighbors until it was time to get the two-year-old ready for bed.

Friday, I was asked to work, which was fine because the nannies and I went to the zoo. It was a special day they had there for the kids where they got a ton of free stuff. I can't tell you how many coupons I got. There were also flyers to other events there, like the pirate day...I really want to go to pirate day. It's a scavenger hunt! Anyway, the zoo was a bit of an adventure. Becca, one of the nannies, had an issue with her car...her battery died so we had to jump it. Thank goodness Samantha (another nanny) was there. She knew what she was doing.

This week, I have a pretty big craft that the girls and I are doing. It's mostly for Aubrey (the oldest). I'm actually rather excited about this craft.

Puppet Shows and Water Wars

It was a hot and rainy week so our activities were limited to the indoors on the days I worked. There was one dry hot day, thank goodness.

Tuesday was our rainy day. The girl across the street came over to play. If anyone follows me on Twitter, you will know how that day went. There was whining and minor fighting but overall, it wasn't a bad day. Aubrey was a bit sassy at times but she was good. It was the day we did the puppet shows. Some if them were hilarious.

We also made stories for random people that we drew. This is Ella Elaine. One of our characters.

Wednesday, Brynna and I spent a lot of time, just the two of us. Aubrey had golf so Brynna and I played a lot of one on one games...like story cubes. Have you ever heard of them? You roll the dice and  tell a story. Brynna spent most of the time listening to the stories I made up. That's usually what happens when I play with children.

During nap time, Aubrey and I made this eggless cookie dough. She and I have made this before but this batch was probably our best batch yet. She and I both agreed on that.

We spent the last half of the day outside. I sprayed them with the hose since we didn't have time to get the pool out before it was dinner time but we did have fun...okay, I had fun spraying them down. They had me chasing them around the house in the humid weather so I had to get them back.

Summer Crafts With The Girls

It's the start of summer vacation for the oldest girl, Aubrey, and we decided on crafts to do during the summer. I'm going to have to limit it to one craft per week because it would get too expensive if I let her have it her way. Some of our activities will be on the free/cheap side since I don't have a lot of money to begin with.

Last week, Aubrey, Brynna (Little One), and I painted rocks. I need to get working on making the house for her rock family. The picture above is of the rock I painted.

This is just the start of our summer crafts. This week we are doing a big project that might take both days I work to finish. I hope to post that on Wednesday.